A Nugget of Truth
by Ragna's Fangirl
Summary: Jin thought everyone had died in that fire. He thought he could focus on Ragna. But when he gets a death threat from an unknown man, he realizes he's dead wrong. Now he had to find the meaning behind the message, "YOU KILLED ME, NOW I'LL KILL YOU"
1. Chapter 1

Jin looked behind him and inched closer to his big brother, Ragna. It was that boy again; the one with the dark green, short hair and purple eyes. The village called him a freak. The boys called him a weirdo, and the girls called him a stalker. He was always watching them with his eyes that were bursting with bright, vibrant color, yet they were dulled by something no one knew. The boy hardly spoke at all; he only Watched. Observed. Stared. In fact, he only spoke one word, and that was his own name.

"Don't pay attention to him," Ragna assured Jin, putting a hand on his shoulder. "and he'll go away." Ragna looked back quickly and glared at the boy. Jin looked back a few seconds later. The boy was gone. But not for long. Jin knew he would come back.

It came as no surprise to him that when fire broke out on the church, Jin saw that boy among the flames. Jin knew he was there, even though the thin, ghostly figure that was whispering commands into his ear didn't notice him. He was too busy taking his sister away and insulting his brother's corpse.

Jin turned around while that evil figure wasn't looking. There he was. Flames were in front of him and behind him. But he didn't look scared. He stood among the corpses of others that had became victims of the fire. The fire Jin had caused. Jin fully turned around, wanting to see that weird boy burst into flames. He wanted to hear him scream.

"… Freak." Jin shouted to him. The boy bowed his head.

"Jin." The boy murmured. "We will meet again…"

"Fat chance!" Jin spat. The boy paid no attention to his words and finished his statement:

"… and you will die."

With that, the green haired boy was suddenly engulfed in a tidal wave of fire that seemed to engulf his whole body at once. Jin's eyes widened as the purple eyes suddenly disappeared.

Jin thought nothing of it. That boy was just another life that he killed. He was dead now. They would never meet again.

**It was impossible.**

**

* * *

**

Jin Kisaragi woke up and stretched. Moving quickly, he put on his NOL outfit and looked in the mirror to comb his blonde hair. Jin's hair was such a pale blonde, and it was a complete mess today. No way could he show up to the NOL base looking like that. After about 5 minutes of struggling to get his hair to cooperate, he figured it might be better if he got it wet. Jin wandered to the bathroom.

The door was wide open and the knob had scratches on it as if a beast had clawed at it. Jin grabbed Yukianesa and cautiously opened the door. Bloody was splattered on the floor; the bathtub was filled with blood. It wasn't Jin's blood; he'd be dead if he had lost this much. Jin's attention shifted to the mirror. Someone had smeared blood on it as well. The blood stains seemed to form words, and even though the blood was dripping, the words were legible:

"**YOU KILLED ME, NOW I'LL KILL YOU"**

**

* * *

**

Sorn Nethaniel Crows sighed and walked through Ronin-Gai. It was his typical shortcut between the NOL and Orient Town. He quickly paused and fidgeted with the brown leather belt he had tied tightly around his eyes. The belt was so long that it covered his whole face from his forehead to the beginning of the bridge of his nose. He raised his hand and centered the normal, silver belt buckle so it was in the center of his face.

Strolling along at a quicker pace, Sorn began to hear footsteps all around his dark world. They echoed through his ears along with all the other sounds. Usually, he paid them little mind, but he recognized the gait of a familiar maiden. Sorn turned around.

"Oh geez, oh geez… I gotta get back to the ba- AH!" Sorn wasn't wrong. That childish voice belonged to Noel Vermillion. Sorn could feel the strange gaze she was giving him. He nodded in response.

"Vermillion." He greeted.

Noel hardly paid attention. The man was a monstrous 6 feet 4 inches tall at least! But he didn't look that intimidating. Brown belts were tightly tied around a third of his face, obviously prohibiting his vision in every way. The same type of belts were also tied tightly around his arms from his wrist to just before his elbow on both arms. And more belts were tied from his chest to beneath his abs. Noel couldn't imagine a man wearing so many belts and moving around so freely! Noel quickly noted what else he was wearing. A loose, long black jacket that's coattails came down to just before his jet black, leather pants. The sleeves of his jacket were staunched from the elbow down because of the belts. He didn't have a shirt on underneath his jacket; his belts were the only thing covering his chest, if only a little.

Suddenly, Sorn snapped his fingers (he was wearing black, fingerless gloves) in front of Noel's face, snapping her out of her observations.

"Vermillion." He said.

"E-eh?" Noel stammered. "O-oh, sorry sir… I was… uh… Lost in thought…" Sorn shrugged.

"Fine. What're you doing here?"

"I was going on patrol… and… I was going back to report my findings! … oh no… th-that's classified! F-forget I said that!" Sorn paused and then nodded.

"Forgotten."

"U-uhm… What are you doing here?"

"Oh… I was returning from a mission-" Suddenly, Noel's receiver began to ring. It was a device that NOL members used to contact each other quickly. Noel picked it up and answered it.

"Lieutenant Vermillion!" Screeched the angry voice on the other end. Noel sighed.

"M-major Kisaragi…" She murmured. "What's wrong?"

"What is the meaning of this blasphemy?" Jin screeched. "There's blood everywhere! In my bathroom, there's splatters in my living room…"

"W-what?" Noel said, shocked. Sorn stared at Noel but said nothing.

"Noel, I order you to find who did this!"

"Y-yes sir!" Noel quickly hung up the receiver. "Excuse me, I don't even know your name, but do you kno-" Noel turned to where the man with the belts had previously been. He was gone. Noel didn't get it. He was hear but a second ago. She thought nothing of it. He had something important to do… right?


	2. Chapter 2

Jin watched his brother walk with Saya to go get water from the well. Jin had been in a bad mood that day, so he wasn't invited to come along. Jin crossed his arms and sat defiantly on the ground, not bothering to join any of the other kids in their games. As Ragna disappeared over the hill, the hope that he would change his mind and let him come along faded. Jin grunted and drew in the dirt.

Jin drew a picture of him, Ragna, and Saya. They were all happy, except for him. Jin scowled at his drawing. Just then, he saw another stick drawing something in the dirt next to him. Looking, Jin saw the boy with purple eyes drawing himself next to Jin, smiling. When he was finished, he looked up at Jin blankly. Jin scowled back at him.

"Hmph." Jin turned away from him. The boy gave him a puzzled look.

"What… is… wrong…?" It was the first time Jin had heard him say anything besides his name, and it was a bit shocking. His speech was cautious and halting, as if speaking was something he wasn't supposed to be doing. Jin turned back to him. The boy's purple eyes were filled with concern.

"Nothin'." Jin replied, hoping he wouldn't question it.

"Don't believe…" The boy spoke quietly, but not quite as halting. "Want truth…"

"Why're you being nosy?" Jin fired back. "It's none of your business!"

"Family?" The boy guessed.

Jin's eyes widened. The boy tilted his head slightly and read the question on Jin's face. He pointed to Jin's picture. He leaned in closer and touched the Jin in the picture.

"Unhappy. Alone." He then pointed to Ragna and Saya. "Happy… Together." The boy straightened his back and looked back at Jin.

"T-that's not it! Big Brother… he…" Jin's voice trailed off as his face turned bitter.

"Saya." The boy murmured the name. Jin became alarmed and stood up, looking down at him.

"How do you know her?" He demanded. The boy tilted his head curiously and then stood up with Jin. They were about the same height.

"Met." The boy said. He pointed to Jin. "Sister."

"… Well… Y-yeah…" Jin hesitated. "T-that has nothing to do with anything!"

"… Okay." The boy's voice was more cautious.

"Why do you keep butting into our business?" Jin exclaimed at the boy. The boy's eyes widened slightly. "You're always watching us!"

"Alone." The boy pointed to himself.

"I don't care about your sob story…" Jin turned around and was about to leave when the boy caught his wrist. Slowly, his thin, pale hand slipped into Jin's.

"Friend." He said. Jin yanked his hand away and bit his lip. The boy looked disappointed.

"I understand…" The boy's voice trailed off as he turned around to leave. "Another day." He said before he disappeared behind a few trees. Jin wanted him to wait. He didn't mean to hurt his feelings. He never expected that he would be the one that lonely boy would open up to. And he never expected to kill that boy in the fire.

* * *

Jin ran out of his apartment and into an alley. He took a deep breath and took a moment to adjust his coat and fix his hair, if only a little. Whoever this mystery guy was, if he was going to attack today, Jin would have to try and look calm and prepared. Jin tested his ice powers to be sure they were working as usual before heading out of the alley in full stride. After that, he contacted Vermillion.

"Lieutenant Noel Vermillion standing by." The childish voice on the other end of the receiver squeaked.

"Lieutenant, you forgot to turn your transmitter off when you were done talking!" Jin scolded. "I heard you talking to yourself about where some guy went off to!"

"U-uhm… oh… I-I'm so-"

"Who is this man?"

"U-uh…" Noel hesitated. "J-just some guy… wearing a lot of belts…"

"Belts? You scum, is that all that identifies this stranger?"

"I-it was a lot of belts… pretty distinct feature…"

Jin was quiet for a moment. So, a guy with a lot of belts. How could Noel be so vague? Anyone could wear a lot of belts! Jin forcefully hung up the receiver and mindlessly chucked it out of anger. Jin walked out of the alley and instantly realized that he shouldn't have done that, because he didn't see where it landed. Now anyone could contact an NOL member and get classified information! How could he be so careless?

"Dammit!" Jin swore to himself. "Where the hell did that stupid thing go! I gotta go find it!" Without a second thought, Jin took off faster than a rocket, not caring about the people he bashed into or things he knocked over. He **had** to get that receiver back or face consequences. And getting punished was NOT the kind of thing that would help the Hero of Ikaruga's image.

* * *

"**Demondemondemon…"**

"**diediediediedeathdeathdeath…"**

"**Demon…m…u…st…die…!"**

Darkness was all around him, the area void of any light. Sorn's breath became sharp intakes every time the devil whispered in his ear. He couldn't get the voices to stop. Sorn put his hands to his ears, but it didn't help. The voice was inside his head, screaming at him, demanding death to the demon. This wouldn't be happening if he hadn't listened to the devil in the first place. But the repercussions could've been so much greater for all of Kagutsuchi…

"**diediediediediediedie…"**

Sorn bit his lip. "Shut up…" He murmured.

"**deeeeeeaaaaaaaaatttthhhhhhhh…" **The voice hissed.

"Leave me alone…"

"**SSSSSOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRN!" **The little devil was screaming his name, desperation and a commanding nature behind his voice. **"DEAAATHTOTHEDEMONSOOORRRN!"**

Suddenly, something came flying through the air above Sorn. A whack was heard as something metal struck him on the head. Sorn lurched up. He was on the roof of a tall building in Orient Town. Besides him was the thing that saved him from the nightmare. A receiver… one from the NOL. Sorn picked it up, thankful for it's lucky arrival. Usually those nightmares crushed his mind with screaming of death until he let the little devil's have his way.

Sorn picked up the receiver and examined it. It was battered from the fall, but very functional. Would it be against the law if he called someone with it? Sorn shrugged and fiddled with the buttons. Suddenly, the receiver activated and began to ring. After a few seconds, someone picked up on the other line.

"Who the h**l is this?" The voice was clear and a little deep. He sounded impatient.

"…" Sorn hesitated. "My name? It's Sorn."

"You got a last name?"

"C-Crows. Sorn Crows. Who's this?"

"Heh, If you're looking for Vermillion, she's… out."

"Ah… I called Lieutenant Vermillion…"

"Tch." The other man sneered. "What, are you a newbie NOL member?"

"No. I found a receiver and picked it up. I didn't intend to disturb you…"

"Tch, don't worry about it. I just got finished beatin' up Vermillion when you called. I'm not part of the d**n NOL either."

"I… see. Who are you?" Sorn hesitated. "You sound familiar…"

"Hmph, are you a bounty hunter?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sorn's voice cracked slightly.

"I see no harm. Bloodedge." The man said. "Ragna the Bloodedge."

Sorn breath became sharp. It was a name he recognized too well.


End file.
